I first met Cargill at a career fair on campus in mid September of 2011. I spoke with them and immediately fell in love. I handed over my resume and, as per their instructions, applied through their website for the open position.
About 3 weeks later, I was invited to an on-campus interview. In mid October, I interviewed with two representatives from Cargill Corn Milling USA both of whom started in the position for which I was interviewing. The questions were mostly behavioral but also consisted of a few easier technical questions. I felt like I hit it off with the interviewers, and though I botched a technical question explaining pH (don't judge me), I felt it went fairly well.
About a week and a half later, I received an email inviting me to attend a two day, onsite interview. I was given the choice between two different dates for the interview which were Wednesday and Thursday or Thursday and Friday of mid November.
A month later, it was time for my interview. Because I was close to the onsite location, I drove, but many of my fellow interviewees were provided with airfare by Cargill. I arrived at the hotel (paid for by Cargill) in the early afternoon, checked in, and then met with my fellow interviewees in the lobby. They had a sign-in table set up where I was presented with a folder with information about Cargill and about the days' activities. I was also presented with a Cargill chocolate (yum). Dress was business casual for the day, as we were to tour the plant that afternoon. We loaded a bus and headed to the plant together where we were given a brief introduction to cornmilling followed by an extensive tour of the plant. I really got an opportunity to see how things worked there, which was great. We also had an opportunity to drill the brains of several people working at the plant in the position for which we were interviewing. We then headed back to the hotel and had an hour or so to freshen up before dinner. Dinner took place in the hotel with all interviewees and interviewers. The environment was relaxing and allowed us to get to know one another and ask plenty more questions of professionals working at various levels within Cargill Corn Milling.
The next day, the intervewees were divided into two groups. My group had a fairly late start at about 10am. On the second day, dress was business formal. We were given a few presentations by various professionals at Cargill Corn Milling regarding benefits and tracks within Cargill. We then all convened for lunch where more questions were asked. Each interviewee was then scheduled for three, back-to-back, hour long interviews. Each interview was with two representatives. At the interviews, a few behavioral questions were asked followed by several technical questions. The interviewers had different lists of technical questions based on the major of the interviewee. A few questions overlapped among the interviews, but most were new at each one. There was plenty of time for me to ask questions, and at that point, I had several to ask. The atmosphere was relaxed and conversational, so it was easy to comfortably ask any questions I had, which were answered honestly.Everyone convened at the end of the day for a final wrap up and then went home.
About a week later, I received reimbursement for my gas mileage and meals eaten during the trip.
About a week after that, I got impatient waiting to hear back from Cargill, so I emailed the woman in charge of recruitment, letting her know that I was patiently awaiting her reply. Within 5 minutes, my phone was ringing. Cargill extended an offer to me. Hooray!
